Red Bull secret is to give Newey what he wants

Adrian Newey has revealed a secret of his success at Red Bull — the team lets him get on with the job of designing formula one cars in peace.

“For me, here it’s ideal,” he is quoted by Speed Week. “I want to manage as little as possible, and spend as much time as possible thinking about the car.”

“At Red Bull that’s fundamentally different than when I was with McLaren,” the Briton added.

Newey, however, acknowledges that he would have enjoyed some more time to stew over the RB9; the new Red Bull with which Sebastian Vettel will charge for an ultra-rare fourth consecutive drivers’ title.

Newey admits it is a “small miracle” that the RB9 was able to be unveiled at all this week at Jerez, due to Red Bull having to push last year’s development right to the end of the title charge.

“This is also one of the reasons why the RB9 is an evolution,” he acknowledged.

Finally, Newey gave a sobering analysis of the amount of input Vettel and his experienced teammate Mark Webber have in the design of a new car.

“Not so much,” he smiled. “Basically, we know by now exactly what Seb and Mark want from a racing car.” (GMM)